In HTML5, how can I keep an Android device’s screen on?

Question

We are developing an App in HTML5 using jQuery.

Is there a way/method, in JavaScript or another technology, to keep the screen \"on\"?

Answer 1

Google's WebVR polyfill has a way to do this on Chrome. It basically creates a tiny video (with a data URL, so no extra downloads needed) and loops it.

It seems like a hack, so I wouldn't be surprised if it's not reliable in the future.

They have code that achieves the same thing on iOS too, by triggering a location update.

Here's the relevant code for Android:

var Util={};
Util.base64 = function(mimeType, base64) {
  return 'data:' + mimeType + ';base64,' + base64;
};

var video = document.createElement('video');
  video.setAttribute('loop', '');

  function addSourceToVideo(element, type, dataURI) {
    var source = document.createElement('source');
    source.src = dataURI;
    source.type = 'video/' + type;
    element.appendChild(source);
  }

  addSourceToVideo(video,'webm', Util.base64('video/webm', 'GkXfo0AgQoaBAUL3gQFC8oEEQvOBCEKCQAR3ZWJtQoeBAkKFgQIYU4BnQI0VSalmQCgq17FAAw9CQE2AQAZ3aGFtbXlXQUAGd2hhbW15RIlACECPQAAAAAAAFlSua0AxrkAu14EBY8WBAZyBACK1nEADdW5khkAFVl9WUDglhohAA1ZQOIOBAeBABrCBCLqBCB9DtnVAIueBAKNAHIEAAIAwAQCdASoIAAgAAUAmJaQAA3AA/vz0AAA='));
  addSourceToVideo(video, 'mp4', Util.base64('video/mp4', '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'));

video.play();